Conventional indoor and outdoor display devices such as mobiles, wind chimes and mirrored balls become rather lackluster, static or repetitive in just a short time and thereafter are relegated to an obscure corner of a room or backyard. The entertainment value of current display items is minimal given that once a display is configured the visual effects of the display are fixed. Lava lamps are decorative lamps in which globules of one liquid are suspended in another liquid. As the lamp is heated, the globules “boil” and rise in the second liquid and fall back as the globules cool thereby simulating the flow of volcanic lava. Lava lamps pose safety concerns since the liquids must be heated to a fairly high temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,153,022 to Dear describes a crystal display device that includes a vertically arranged photovoltaic cell, main device housing that encases an electric motor and transmission, and a suspended refractory crystal. The display is typically mounted on the windowpane with a suction cup so that the crystal hangs freely and rotates to provide a multicolored display.
The industry is in search of exciting novelty items, which afford visual interest with a degree of unpredictability in its presentation. Particularly desired are novelty items that exhibit as robust, environmentally integrated display that is derived from the use of materials that interact with external light and other natural elements.